My cup runneth over...

with pictures! This post is going to be FULL of pictures and some video, mostly from Christmas! We had a wonderful, though busy, holiday. The three of us drove to Knoxville, TN where my Dad (AKA Papa T) and his wife, Terrie live. Ashley met us there and we spent time with Terrie's daughters, Rebecca and Jennifer. We had a lot of fun catching up and working on a scrapbook of old pictures we are making for Dad. I have to say that Ashley and I decided our hairstyles through the years bring to light some serious neglect on the part of our caregivers. The pictures of us through the 80s had us rolling! Here are some highlights of our time there:

Daddy tells Santa what he wants for Christmas

Playing in the backyard at Papa and Nana T's house


Dad and Terrie

"Ring of Fire" performed by Tyson and Aiden (Rebecca's kiddos), with the aid of Elias' Christmas present


Scrapbooking

Santa at the Festival of Lights at a park in Knoxville

Dad showing off his piano skills

Elias takes a turn

Papa T

We left TN on Christmas Eve and headed to Charlotte to be with Mom (aka Nana) at her house for Christmas. After enjoying a delicious homemade meal (green bean casserole included!), we shared pumpkin pie with Mimi, Papa and Aunt Ann and Uncle Jimmy, who stopped over. It was really nice to see them and nice to see Mimi feeling better despite the last few months of chemotherapy. Click HERE to see our Christmas Eve pictures. We woke up Christmas morning with Mom and Ash, but unfortunately Elias was quite the disappointment as far as Christmas excitement is concerned. He was pretty indifferent, actually, and had the most fun with Mom's cat, Oreo. He likes to follow Oreo around and then pet him while saying something that sounds like "Awwww." It's quite cute. Hopefully, next year he will be more into opening presents...at least for the sake of the grandparents! This year, the wrapping paper was definitely wasted. I'll post pictures of our time with Mom soon, as our camera battery had died and she took all of the pictures...thanks, Mom! She always does a great job of capturing our memories! Click HERE for Christmas morning pictures from Nana's house.

We spent the 26th with Grandma Carol at her house and enjoyed more homecooking and lots of presents! The book she had made for Elias with pictures of words he knows, like "mama" and "dada," "elmo," and "car" was a huge hit. Elias has spent more time with the book than any other present so far. 2nd place is the keyboard Papa T got him. He plays the keys so gingerly: one at a time instead of banging. Maybe he'll play the piano just like Papa T! Here are some highlights of our time with Carol (click HERE for the complete slideshow):

The rest of our December pictures (click on each to see the Kodak Gallery slideshow):

Daddy and Buddy day

Christmas Party

North Pole Party

Random December

Whew! And now for some video archives....

Elias and Taylor Grace at Thanksgiving

Music to our ears: Elias talking!

We wish everyone a peaceful start to 2008. We'll start our year in Florida with Christopher's Grandma and Mickey Mouse! Using our timeshare points, we will be staying at Bonnet Creek Resort in Orlando and spending a day in the Magic Kingdom.

Much love and warmth to all and wishes for health in the new year. Our thoughts are with families who have lost little ones and pray for peace and healing in their hearts.

Hopefully we can see you all soon and share all the good in our lives!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas!
Tonight we rode the Santa Train at the Museum of Life and Science. A Durham tradition that includes a lighted train ride through the woods and a chance to meet Santa. A family sitting in front of us told it was their 11th year riding the Santa train. Elias was a little wild waiting for the train, but clapped and smiled during the ride. He was not a fan of the stop at "the North Pole" because this meant the train had stopped. Fortunately, Mommy had brought along a snack to occupy such an occasion!

Elias and Daddy waiting for the train

It was a little windy on the train, which is why my big fo-head is fully exposed!

Not so sure about Santa...

but loved the train!

We went out to dinner afterwards at Bullocks BBQ, another Durham favorite and after surviving dinner with an overtired toddler, returned home to get our buddy to bed. Then it was time to finish decorating the house!

We are hosting our annual Ammon Holiday Open House tomorrow night and needed to put the finishing touches on our decorations. I have been spending quite some time in the kitchen and are planning on serving the following at our party:

Pretzel Yummies (a big hit last year so I'm bringin' 'em back!)

Oreo balls (which I think I am going to call reindeer poo because that's what they look like, although quite tasty!)

my infamous Spinach and Artichoke dip

Cheese Ball

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Sparkling Citrus Punch (to be spiked with a little bubbly!)

Homemade Chocolate Covered Toffee

Can't wait! We pretty much invite everyone we know, so it's a big group of people and a chance for us to introduce different corners of our lives!

Here's a few pics of what the house looks like...

I love our house when it is decorated for Christmas. So warm and cozy! Better head to bed now as there is still much to do tomorrow! Vaccuum, dust, set up the food, spike the punch and get pretty! Wish those far away reading this could join us...we'll certainly miss you. In the meantime, enjoy the season and time celebrating with family and friends.

Weekend Update

I am happy to announce that I am officially done with my first semester of grad school! So far, I know I made an A...yes, an A!!! in one class. I turn in a paper Monday morning for my other class and hopefully will do just as well.

So far, grad school has been enjoyable and not as hard as I thought it would be. It takes a team effort to time manage (three cheers for Christopher who has picked up MAJOR slack along the way) and not get behind on readings and assigments. And it definitely takes an established time each week to work on school, as I have gotten with Elias being in a parents-morning-out program two mornings a week. My philosophy (passed down to me from more experienced working mom friends who are also going back to school...love you Athena!) has been to take one week, one assignment at a time...to do the best I can with the time I have. I didn't set out to make an A, but sure am proud I did! And again, I must credit Christopher for being so supportive...could not have done it without his help. And while I am thanking people, I should send an online shout-out = ) to Grandma, who babysat quite a few times to give me some school time. They say it takes a village to raise a child and I think the same applies to getting through grad school!

Work has been tough this Fall...we lost children that were very dear to my heart and it's been harder than usual to move on. Somehow, I still love it. I love the people I work with, which helps a lot. I have never worked with a more amazing group of women. I feel like they are a part of my extended family.

Elias is talking a lot more, although currently in a language we do not understand. It's beautiful to listen to! I'll try and post soon some video we took today of him talking. Speech therapy continues to go well and we love seeing our speech therapist twice a week. Stacy has become part of "Team Elias" and we are grateful for her. Elias still loves his school and brings home the greatest artwork. We have made a "gallery" for him in our kitchen and he loves to point out what he has made. He knows his shapes and colors and when asked, can point out all kinds of animals...including the bald eagle and and spider monkey (from Panda Bear, Panda Bear by Eric Carle).

We had a great Thanksgiving at Grandma's with Brian, Katie and Taylor Grace and even enjoyed some day-after shopping. Click on Thanksgiving for a link to our pictures. Elias seems to know Taylor Grace (4 1/2 months older) is his cousin and constantly gives her "pat-pat's," which is his version of hugs. Very sweet.

Grandpa stopped in for dinner while in town for business trip and had fun seeing Elias in action. Christopher's high school pal, Leslie, was also in town and we had a blast with her and dog, Lou. We even took them to our favorite park, where Lou was a big hit. Click on the picture below to see other random pictures from November.

And finally, we were happy to visit with Kimary, who has moved to the west coast to pursue a career in nurse-midwifery, while she was home for Thanksgiving. Click on the picture below to see all the pictures!

Two new angels

Two sweet girls became angels this week: Alexia on Wednesday night and Ashleigh on Thursday night. Please pray for these families as they say goodbye and celebrate their daughters' lives through services this weekend and on Monday. Click on their names to see their websites. I couldn't find a picture of me with Ashleigh, but found one of me with Alexia and thought I'd post it. This picture is from when she was leaving to return to Argentina after her first transplant at Duke.